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On Sunday news programs, Gov. Whitmer says her strict stay home orders are working

Amidst growing fury at her stay-at-home order, which has shuttered businesses across Michigan and kept people in their houses, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended her actions on Sunday news programs and said the strict guidelines are beginning to work.

"My stay-at-home order is one of the nation's more conservative, but the fact of the matter is it's working," she said on CNN's State of the Union. "We are seeing the curve start to flatten and that means we’re saving life. We know this curve was steep and now these efforts are making a difference and saving lives. We've got to continue doing it."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer: "You know my stay-home order is one of the nation's more conservative, but the fact of the matter is, it's working. We are seeing the curve start to flatten. And that means we're saving lives" #CNNSOTUpic.twitter.com/LzadRV4259

Whitmer said she has no regrets about the strict restrictions included in her stay-at-home order, designed to slow and stop the spread of coronavirus in Michigan.

"This is an unprecedented crisis that we're confronting. The harsh way it's hitting my state means we've got to be really smart about the actions we take now to protect life and the actions we take to reengage," she said.

A plan to begin opening up the state's economy is coming this week, Whitmer said, with details coming at press conferences Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

"We can't just turn back to what life was like before COVID-19," she said on NBC's Meet the Press. "We have to be strategic."

She also said more robust testing needs to happen in the state in order to get a better handle of the spread of coronavirus. But Michigan is experiencing a shortage of supplies needed to conduct the tests.

"We could double or triple the number of tests we could be doing daily, if we had the swabs and reagents," Whitmer said. "It would be incredibly helpful if the federal government would use the Defense Production Act to start producing these swabs and reagants so we can improve testing."

WATCH: @GovWhitmer says Michigan has the capability to triple the number of testing they're doing, but they're missing supplies such as swabs. #MTP

"If the federal government would use the Defense Production Act ... we would be able to know how prevalent COVID-19 is." pic.twitter.com/pB1aYOqtNm

Whitmer's appearances on NBC's "Meet the Press" and CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday morning came a day after Michigan Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield, R-Levering, sent her a letter urging her to do more to reopen the state's economy before the emergency declaration expires May 1.

"Though we disagree with many aspects of your recent orders, we still appreciate your service to our state and you performing your duties the best that you can," Chatfield wrote. "We do, however, believe that several changes need to be made soon before it’s too late. With thousands of Michigan families suffering, unemployment skyrocketing and uncertainty in every county, we know that government can do better."

He made three suggestions: Think regionally about the state's economy and reopen areas that have few coronavirus cases; allow certain sectors that have little contact with the public to go back to work; and allow non-essential workers to go back to work as long as they can abide by strict social distancing guidelines.

Whitmer made her first emergency declaration March 10 when the first two cases of coronavirus were reported. She closed restaurants and bars, except for carry-out and delivery services March 16 and issued her first stay at home order March 23.

The Legislature agreed to a second emergency declaration April 7, but only until May 1 instead of the mid-June deadline that Whitmer wanted. On April 9, she tightened up the stay-at-home order, banning "non-essential" sales of goods, like gardening supplies and paint at big box stores, travel between households and to vacation homes Up North and prohibiting motorboats from going into the water.

That order set off a rush of anger and protest and by April 15, thousands of people converged on Lansing to snarl traffic and hundreds gathered around the steps of the Capitol, most without practicing social distancing or wearing masks. They carried Tea Party and Trump flags and there were even a few Confederate flags in the crowd. Gun rights groups openly carried their weapons and chants of "Lock her up," could be heard from the crowd.

Whitmer said that by ignoring social distancing guidelines, the protesters could be taking the coronavirus back to their communities and actually prolong the response to the virus.

At the same time, Republicans in the Legislature began to become even more critical, introducing bills that would take away some of her power to make emergency declarations and calling on Whitmer to relax her stay at home order and offering their own plans on how to do it.

"I hope that it’s not encouraging more protest," Whitmer said Friday. "There is a lot of anxiety out there and the most important thing that anyone with a platform can tell people is that we’re going to get through this."

In the midst of all the furor, the number of coronavirus cases in Michigan seems to be reaching a plateau. The number of new cases and deaths have mostly been going down for the past week, with a cumulative total of 30,791 people testing positive and 2,308 deaths as of Saturday.